World Cup and European leagues

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Wild day of action. We now know 28 of the 32 teams in the knockout stage and 5 of the 3rd place teams. Cabo Verde become the smallest nation to reach the knockout stage after finishing 2nd with three draws and their reward is Argentina. Senegal with their big 5-0 win erase a disappointing tournament to secure their spot in the next round.
47 teams have scored at least once. Only Panama remains without a goal scored but they still have one more game against England. Mexico, Spain, Argentina, and Ghana are the only teams yet to concede a goal. Ghana and Argentina both have games today.


For the final 3rd place advancers
Iran (3 pts, 0 GD) needs 1 result
South Korea (3 pts, -1 GD) needs 2 results
Scotland (3 pts, -3 GD) needs all 3 results.

a) Group J: Austria (3 pts, 0 GD) vs Algeria (3pts, -2 GD)
If they draw they both advance, if someone loses then you look at goal differential.

b) Group K: DR Congo (1 pt, -1 GD) vs Uzbekistan (0 pt, -7 GD)
If DRC win, the group gets 3rd place through. If Uzbekistan wins, they'd need to overcome their massive GD deficit. If they draw both are out.

c) Group L: Croatia (3 pts, -1 GD) vs Ghana (4 pts, +1 GD)
If Croatia gets a result the group gets 3rd place through. If Croatia loses it's down to GD.


We already knew the US will face B&H next but now we now know Belgium is a potential 2nd round opponent. The 3rd place team Belgium will play is still unknown. If South Korea advance it will be them, otherwise it could be Senegal or group J.

Germany (E1) will face Paraguay (D3)
France (I1) will face Sweden (F3)
Mexico (A1) will most likely face Ecuador (E3) unless Scotland (A3) squeaks through then it'll be the Scots.
Switzerland (B1) will most likely face Iran (G3) unless they don't qualify which means they'll face J3

Of the 28 teams we know will advance, UEFA 11/16, CAF 7/10, AFC 2/9. CONCACAF 3/6, CONMEBOL 5/6, OFC 0/1
We could still get a USA vs Canada and Mexico vs Cabo Verde semifinals

[Kuiper]

Heck of a final two games of group play.  Messi comes on because the game needed some Messi and a game broke out in stoppage time of what was setting up to be the Disgrace of Gijon II between Algeria and Austria

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Our winning combination of 3rd place teams was #67 (BDEFIJKL). The teams hoping for some help on the final day got none. I'm shocked Iran with 3 pts and 0 GD failed to advance. Iran were cheering as much as Algeria when they scored in stoppage time but their dream was crushed when Austria equalized a few minutes later.
Last WC seven of eight 3rd places had 4 points, but the previous two WC it was only two of eight. This year 7 ended up on 4 points so only the best with 3 points advanced.

Everyone's darlings Cabo Verde are the only team without a win to advance to the knockout round.
Argentina, France, and Mexico are the only teams not to drop a point.
Mexico and Spain are the only teams not to concede a goal.
France, Germany, and Netherlands lead the way with 10 goals scored.


E1 Germany (2-0-1) vs D3 Paraguay (1-1-1)
I1 France (3-0-0) vs F3 Sweden (1-1-1)
A2 South Africa (1-1-1) vs B2 Canada (1-1-1)
F1 Netherlands (2-1-0) vs C2 Morocco (2-1-0)
4 UEFA, 2 CAF, 1 CONCACAF, 1 CONMEBOL

K2 Portugal (1-2-0) vs L2 Croatia (2-0-1)
H1 Spain (2-1-0) vs J2 Austria (1-1-1)
D1 United States (2-0-1) vs B3 Bosnia & Herzegovina (1-1-1)
G1 Belgium (1-2-0) vs I3 Senegal (1-0-2)
6 UEFA, 1 CAF, 1 CONCACAF

C1 Brazil (2-1-0) vs F2 Japan (1-2-0)
E2 Cote D'Ivoire (2-0-1) vs I2 Norway (2-0-1)
A1 Mexico (3-0-0) vs E3 Ecuador (1-1-1)
L1 England (2-1-0) vs K3 DR Congo (1-1-1)
2 CAF, 2 CONMEBOL, 2 UEFA, 1 AFC, 1 CONCACAF

J1 Argentina (3-0-0) vs H2 Cabo Verde (0-3-0)
D2 Australia (1-1-1) vs G2 Egypt (1-2-0)
B1 Switzerland (2-1-0) vs J3 Algeria (1-1-1)
K1 Colombia (2-1-0) vs L3 Ghana (1-1-1)
4 CAF, 2 CONMEBOL, 1 AFC, 1 UEFA

The majority of the top half of the bracket is from UEFA (10) but the bottom half only has 3.
Almost half of the teams eliminated from the group stage (7 of 16) were from AFC

UEFA: 13/16 (Czechia, Scotland, Turkiye eliminated)
CAF: 9/10 (Tunisia)
CONMEBOL: 5/6 (Uruguay)
CONCACAF: 3/6 (Curacao, Haiti, Panama)
AFC: 2/9 (Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Uzbekistan)
OFC: 0/1 (New Zealand)